Netaji kin wants Modi to ask Putin to declassify Netaji files

Kolkata, Dec 14: Ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Russia, two members of the Netaji family will meet Narendra Modi on Wednesday to request him to take up declassification of KGB files related to Netaji.

"To get conclusive evidence about the fate of Netaji, it is very important for us to see the KGB files. These are old files and won't get released unless the matter is taken up at the level of the Prime Minister," Netaji's grandnephew Chandra Bose told PTI.

He said that during the meeting he and his sister, Madhuri, will try to impress upon Modi to personally ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about the classified files.

"We are sure that Netaji did not die in the air crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945. He either went to China or the erstwhile Soviet Union. The KGB files are therefore very crucial," Bose said.

Earlier in October, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had raised the issue with the Russian foreign minister during a meeting in Moscow.

The Indian government has already decided to declassify all the files related to Bose from January 23. Bose said that during the meeting with Modi at Parliament House they will present him a new book 'The Bose brothers and Indian independence, an insider's account' written by Madhuri Bose.

The book looks at the life and times of Netaji and his brother Sarat Chandra Bose with unpublished documents sourced from the family's private collection.

"There are many letters and other writings of both the Bose brothers that my father Amiya Nath Bose had in his private collection. It has Netaji's writings when he was in jail and letters which he wrote to Nehru and Gandhi. The book reflects their political ideologies," Bose observed.

PTI